Fungal Plant Pathogens in Agricultural Crops: Diversity, Detection, and Control

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 August 2025 | Viewed by 396

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Grupo de Hongos Fitopatógenos, Departamento de Protección Vegetal, Centro Nacional INIA-CSIC, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: biocontrol agents; fungi; biological control; postharvest; plant disease; epidemiology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungal plant pathogens in agriculture cause a significant threat to food production worldwide. Early disease identification, detection, and control are critical. In modern agriculture, ensuring relatively constant quality yield is essential. Nowadays, there is a need for biological and chemical plant protection methods to interact in agriculture. Biological diversity, resistance, agronomic practice, disease forecasting, biological fungicides, sustainable use of fungicides, and different schemes of plant protection during cultivation and disease control are important in plant protection. There is a demand for environmentally friendly and safe human health products.

We invite researchers to submit original scientific articles, reviews, and communications that address plant protection technologies, plant pathogens, disease diversity, and disease and pathogen detection and control; we also welcome manuscripts related to fundamental and applied research.

Dr. Neringa Rasiukeviciute
Dr. Antonieta De Cal
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • pathogens
  • detection
  • diversity
  • control

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 2503 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Profiling of the Pathogen Complex Causing Common Bean Root Rot in China
by Li Yang, Xiao-Hong Lu, Bo-Ming Wu, Zeng-Ming Zhong and Shi-Dong Li
Agriculture 2025, 15(13), 1426; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15131426 - 2 Jul 2025
Viewed by 161
Abstract
Root rot, a globally devastating disease of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), remains a major constraint on bean production across China. Despite its agricultural impact, the pathogen complex associated with this disease has been poorly characterized in most provinces. To address this [...] Read more.
Root rot, a globally devastating disease of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), remains a major constraint on bean production across China. Despite its agricultural impact, the pathogen complex associated with this disease has been poorly characterized in most provinces. To address this critical knowledge gap, we conducted nationwide surveys during 2016–2018, systematically sampling 1–10 symptomatic plants from each of 121 (2016) and 170 (2018) field sites across 17 provinces in China’s major vegetable production regions. Isolates obtained from symptomatic root tissues underwent morphological screening, followed by molecular identification using partial sequences of EF1-α for Fusarium species and ITS regions for other genera. Pathogenicity of representative isolates was subsequently confirmed through controlled greenhouse assays. This integrated approach revealed fourteen fungal and oomycete genera, with Fusarium (predominantly F. oxysporum and F. solani) and Rhizoctonia (R. solani) emerging as the most prevalent pathogens. Notably, pathogen composition exhibited significant regional variation and underwent temporal shifts across developmental stages. Additionally, F. oxysporum, F. solani, and R. solani demonstrated significant interspecies associations with frequent co-occurrence in bean root rot systems. Collectively, this first comprehensive characterization of China’s common bean root rot complex not only clarifies spatial–temporal pathogen dynamics but also provides actionable insights for developing region- and growth stage-specific management strategies, particularly through targeted control of dominant pathogens during key infection windows. Full article
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